How Your Friends Can Help You During Divorce

Posted By Attorney Jim Cairns || 4-Sep-2012

How Your Friends Can Help You During Divorce

You have friends who have always been there for you. They have seen you through the good times, like your wedding day, and now they want to help you through your divorce. Their intentions are well meaning, yet they are not quite sure how to help with your divorce.

Here are some tips to share with your friends about how they can support you through this difficult time in your life. It is important to let your friends know, because often they really don't know how to help. Remember, when you married you helped your friends to know what you could use as a gift and signed up for registries at different places or dropped a couple of hints of what you could really use. So why not help them out and let them know how they can lend a helping hand during your let your freinds know how they can help with your uncontested Pennsylvania divorce?

Do you have a friend that is good with math or numbers? Ask him/her to help you figure out a ask your friend to help you determine a budget for your post-divorce life. You are going to want to make sure you have a solid understanding of what your finances are going to look like after divorce and they can help, especially if your friends are single and paying all of their own bills alone.

Once you have a budget together you might realize you will need some extra income. Have your friends help you to get a job. They may know of job openings. The key here is networking. Are they good with social media networking, for example LinkedIn? If so, they can help you create or update your profile. Job hunters visit these pages often and even future employers like to take a look and see what else they can learn about you.

Think about friends with storage space. Do you need to put away some pictures and mementos until you have finished your divorce and don't feel so upset? Ask a friend with some extra attic or basement space to store your boxes until you are ready for them.

Divorce can leave you physically and emotionally exhausted. Do you have a friend who can cook up some meals which you can easily store in your freezer? These meals are great when the kids are hungry and you just feel like crawling into bed. Don't be afraid to ask your friends for whatever help you need, and let them know it's alright to say "no".

Help with day to day activities is another wonderful way a friend can help out. Think about some things that a friend can help you out with which would just make your day go by a little easier now that you are divorced. Some of these items can include: waiting for a repair person, picking you up from the car repair shop, taking the kids for an afternoon, or running an errand for you.

Have a friend who is good at rallying up people for a good cause? If you find that you and the kids are really struggling financially ask your friend to manage a fundraising event for you and your children. Places of worship are a great place to find support for this type of event.

Don't overlook the little things, which make a big difference. Have a friend send you some flowers. If s/he sends them to work they can write something cute on the card such as "From your loving goldfish". Let them know that compliments mean a lot to you. Divorce can be a big hit to your self-esteem and divorce can make you feel rejected. Compliments go a long way when you're feeling down and out.
Communicate with your friends to let them know what you really need now that you are divorcing or are divorced.

If you have some of your own ideas, please share them here so others can read and learn. Don't forget to share them with your friends, too! We all have different needs; I remember meeting and talking with my friends at the gym gave me something to look forward to at the end of a hard day. It felt great to be able to talk things out with them in a healthy environment and I really needed it at the time.